
The Norwegians that occupied this part of Norway were generally farmers of potatoes during the mid 1800's. The latitude is about 200 miles north of Oslo. It is a rolling landscape somewhat similar to Minnesota where many Scandinavians later settled.
During the 1800's potatoes were a dominate crop and became a most
important
ingredient in Norwegian recipes, such as Lefsa, a potato pancake.
A side affect of eating potatoes was the dimishing of the incidence of
scurvy among seafarers and in the Highlands of Scotland. [Carpenter
101] Very much like Ireland, the wide popularity of the potato caused a
population
explosion and forced a dependence on the continuation of the planting
of
potatoes. From 1810 to 1847 the population almost doubled. By
the mid- 1800's Norway experienced their own "potato famine" caused by
successive failures of this most important crop. The potato
blight responsible for the Irish Potato Famine caused in Norway many of
the same hardships and forced the breakup of large families and
emigration of many to the United States. [lanb 225]
Norway had, according Hubert H. Lamb's Climate,
History and the Modern
World, many years of vastly difficult weather conditions
between 1690
and 1710. The Little Ice Age froze rivers, the Baltic sea, and
created glaciers in Norway that forced the abandonment of
farms. These kinds of conditions were repeated again in "1837-38
and was such an extreme winter in Scandinavia that there was ice all
the
way from Skagen (the north tip of Denmark) to the southernmost point of
Norway and round along the southwest coast of Norway as far out to sea
as the eye could see. (In March 1838 the ice on this Atlantic
coast was drifting back towards the south again.)"
These cold winters were also accompanied by wet summers. The
wheat crops failed due to the wetness and the potato took the place as
the dominate crop. Constant planting and the potato blight (Phytophthora infestans),
that was believed to be imported to Europe from America in 1845
probably aboard a returning passenger ship, grows
abundantly with a constant 10 C and 90% humidity. "We read
in a farm diary from as far away as Jaeren in southwest Norway
that in 1846 the alternations of rain and sun, always with warmth,
ripened the corn quickly and it was safely got in by 29 August, but the
'the potatoes rotted again.' In Ireland, where the potato was the
staple crop on multitudes of small farms, 80 per cent of them under 6
hectares (15 acres) and many only a fifth of that size, the
effect was devastating." [Lamb p. 231- 232]
The Scotland with a similar latitude and proximity to Norway
also had corresponding crops and weather. Scotland was similarly
afflicted. In 1846 the Highlands potato crops were blighted and
the following winter it was particularly cold and snowy. Between
1846 to 1852 1.7 million people emigrated from Scotland. The most
well known famine from the potato blight was in Ireland where
approximately 1,000,000 people died and caused the emigration of 1.7 to
2 million. [Lamb 231] [wikipedia.com]
The Løten/Hedemarken area of southern Norway although
agriculturally bountiful was still controlled by a feudalistic land
based system that limited economic prosperity of the
peasants who raised large families. Of many people born
here, including my own
grandfather Evan Rohne (22 Sep 1848-1901), another famous person was
Edvard Munch (12 Dec 1863-1944). [edvardmunch.info]
Unlike many Scandinavians, my own relatives came to Texas with the
sanction
and approval of the King of Norway and Denmark who was offered a
sizable
section of land for settlement by immigrating Scandinavians. The
central Texas area to which they came also has low rolling hills
although
a much hotter climate. My own relatives became successful farmers
of primarily wheat and cotton.
Source:
Carpenter,
Kenneth J. The History of Scurvy and
Vitamin C., The Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK 1986
edwardmuch.info - biography
Lamb,
Hubert
H.
Climate, History and the Modern World.
Routledge,
2nd
ed.
1982






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